Blog:Ludicrous

I am actually not a fan of what I would consider reckless speeding and I support the current proposal to give people caught doing seriously excessive speeds six penalty points on their driving licence rather than three. More than 45mph in a 30mph limit, for example, deserves a heavier penalty than creeping up to 35. Yep, of course the message has to be sent out clearly that excessive speeds are dangerous.

But I do have massive sympathy for the BMW exec who copped a jail sentence for perjury after getting caught at 101mph and then trying to get someone else to take the licence hit. He deserved a big fine and a serious slap on the wrist, but a custodial sentence? That's way over the top in my view.

Perjury is not to be condoned of course, but this was a motoring offence followed by a lack of good judgement. He made a mistake, got in deeper by telling fibs and then compounded it by not owning up. Yes, a very naughty boy, but no-one suffered. The man is not a danger to society. Perhaps he didn't say sorry loudly enough.

I hope BMW takes the view that he has been punished enough, more than enough even. He was caught speeding and then he lied about it (he's hardly the first) - maybe he was badly advised about the camera technology. But jail?

Given the startling complexity of obtaining a journalist visa for China - the code 'J2' is now indelibly stamped on my mind - it was with some surprise how swiftly I managed to sail through airport im...